WRAeS Talk: A History of UK Airborne Early Warning Radar Since WW2
- Entry donation £5 per person. Card payment at the door.
- Evening talk in The Clubhouse at Brooklands Museum
- Doors open 5.30pm / Talk starts 6.45pm
- Campbell Gate Entrance
Airborne early warning has been central to RAF air defence since the early Cold War. By lifting radar above the horizon of ground stations, airborne platforms offered earlier warning against low-flying aircraft and gave commanders a wider, more flexible picture of the air battle. Over time, the RAF’s airborne early warning force evolved from an improvised piston-engined stopgap into a networked battle-management capability closely tied to NATO operations and modern coalition warfare.
The use of radar in aircraft to achieve long-range early warning of airborne threats was developed during WW2 in Britain and the USA and is now a key component of air defence. Prof Watts will outline the evolution of Airborne Early Warning (AEW) radar capability in the UK from WW2 to the present day.
For more information please contact: [email protected]
Simon Watts was a deputy Scientific Director and Technical Fellow in Thales UK until 2013 and is a Visiting Professor in the department of Electronic and Electrical Engineering at University College London. He graduated from the University of Oxford in 1971 with an MA in Engineering Science, obtained an MSc in Radiocommunication and Radar Technology from the University of Birmingham in 1972 and a PhD from the CNAA in 1987. In 2013 he was also awarded a DSc by the University of Birmingham, for research on sea clutter modelling. He joined Thales (then EMI Electronics) in 1967 and worked on a wide range of radar and EW projects, with a particular research interest in airborne maritime radar and sea clutter.
He is a author and co-author of over 80 journal and conference papers, a book on sea clutter (2 editions), various book chapters on clutter and several patents. He has also published two books on the history of airborne maritime surveillance radar.
Simon Watts was chairman of the international radar conference RADAR-97 in Edinburgh UK and has served as a member of the IEEE AES Radar Panel and as an Associate Editor for Radar for the IEEE Transactions on Aerospace and Electronic Systems. He received the IEE JJ Thomson Premium Award in 1987 and the IEE Mountbatten Premium Award in 1991. He was appointed MBE by HM the Queen in 1996 for services to the UK defence industry and is a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering, Fellow of the IET, Fellow of the IMA and Fellow of the IEEE.
Meetings are held in the Brooklands Museum Clubhouse.
The Brooklands Club Members bar is open to use from 5:30pm – please use card payment for drinks. Food can also be ordered from the Bar and will be served from 5:45pm.
All are welcome (RAeS membership is not required). There is an entry donation of £5.00 (please use card payment) at the door. This donation is not expected from those under the age of 21 or holders of a current Student Union card.
Certificates of Attendance for C.Eng or CPD purposes are available on request.
Entry is via Campbell Gate only, Brooklands Road, KT13 0QN from 5.30pm.
